Coupler shank and yoke connection



June 24. 1924. 1 1,498,540

- W; E. COFFEN COUPLER SHANK AND YOKE CONNECTION Filed May 13. 192) Patented June 24, 1924.

UNITED STATES I .1,-'4'9s.54a P TENT OFFICE.

WALTER E. COFFIN. O'F CLEVELAND, OHIO. ASSI GNOR. BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS T NATIONAL.MALLEABLE AND STEEL CASTI CORPORA 'IION OF OHIO.

COUPLER SHANK Application filed May 13.

'1 n 0 71 Mil/U1)- v'l may concern Beit known that I. VAl/ll-Zl: l'l. (oi-FIN, a citizen of the United States. residing at Cleveland, Cuya'hoga County, Ohio. have in- "ented new and useful Improvements in Coupler Shank and Yoke Connections, of which the following is a specification,reference. being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which- I Fig. 1 is a horizontal section showing the application of my invention to a coupler shank; Fig. 2 is a section on lines lI--II of 4 Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 1,

but. of the coupler shank alone; and Fig. t is a detail of the equalizing members My invention relates to coupler shank and yoke connections and is particularly designed to provide aconnection that'under angling conditions will permit the connect- 0jng key to bear equally on both of the for wardly extending sides of the yoke. My invention also'comprises the construction and arrangement of .the various features which I shall'hereinafter describe and'claim.

Referring toith'edrawings. 2 indicates the coupler shank-,3 the" yoke, and 4 the connecting key. T he jcoupler shank 2 and the forwardly extending sides 5 of the yoke 3 have horizontal registering apertures or slots 6 and 7 respectively, therethrough. The slot 6 in the coupler shank has its front face 8 lfevelled forwardly on each side of the cou-.. pler center line, and its rear face 9 is concave in a horizdntzil plane. Both front and rear surfaces 8 and S) arealso concave in vertical planes. Seated in the concave face or bearing 9 is an equalizer member 10, the rear face 11 of which is convex in two directions to correspond with the surface 9, and its forward face 12 is concave in a vertical direction. The inemberltl'may be held in position in the shank 2 by the cotter keys 13, which extend above and below the slot 6 and prevent accidental removal of the member 10 from the. slot 6 when the connectingkey i is not in place. Theforwardand rear sides of the connecting key 4 are convex to correspond with the concave face 8 in the slot 6 and the concave face 12 of the member 10. The rear end 14' of the coupler, shank is bevelled at the corners so as to provide a flat bearing surface between shank and draft gear (notshown) under angling conditions.

In assembling the couplershank and yoke cause the key to bear equally against the' for- 'a-tive to the connecting NGS COMPANY. OF CLEVELAND. OHIO, A.

AND YO-XE coNNEo'rIoN.

1921. Serial No.'469,230.

connection the equalizer member 10 is first inserted in the bearing 9 of the slot 6' in the shank 2, and the cotter keys 13 are insertedx to hold member '10 from accidental displacement. The coupler shank is next placed'between the forwardly extending jaws 5 of theyokeS andthe connecting key 4 is' then inserted through the slots 6 and '7 between the' concave face 8 of the shank and the concave face 12 of the member 10.

When the coupler angles laterally the shank will-rotate about the convex bearing 11 on the member 10, and asvthe pressure imposed upon the member '10 holds it snugly against the rear face of the key at, it will ward faces of the slots 7 in both jaws a of the yoke 3.

The terms and expressions which Ihave employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use .of such terms and expressions, of excluding any mechanical equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, but recognize that various structural modifications arepossible Within the scope of theiitvention claimed.

lVhat I claim is: Q 1. In a coupler shank and yoke connection, a coupler shank'and yoke having horizontal aligned slots therein,-a connectingzkey in said slots and an equalizer in,the slot in the shank between the key and the rear end of the shank, the slot in the shank having at its rear end a concave surface to afford a rotative bearing for the equalizerfand at its forwardend a bearing for the key in the'axis of the shank, the forward side edges of the slot being spaced forward from thesaid bearing to permit angling of the coupler relkey. 2. In a coupler shank and yoke connection, a coupler shank and yoke having horizontally aligned slots therein, a connecting key seating in said slots, and an equalizer in the slot in the shank between the key and the rear end of the shank, the slotin the shank having at its rear end a concavesurface to afford a rotative bearing for an equalizer and at its forward end walls flaring forwardly "from the coupler center line to permit angling of the coupler relative to the connecting key.

1 A ER E. coFF'IN 

